World's best 100 cities including Paris, Dubai, Rome and two UK hotspots

12 December 2023 , 13:52

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Paris topped the list (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Two UK cities have placed among the best 100 in the world in new rankings.

French capital Paris has topped a list of the 100 best cities in the world based on economics, business performance, tourism performance, tourism infrastructure, tourism policy and attractiveness, health and safety, and sustainability.

The City of Love's reputation will be put to the test this summer when it hosts the Olympic Games, the first European city to do so in 12 years. An estimated 15.3 million visitors are expected to visit Paris and its surrounding areas during the Olympics, with an estimated 3.3 million of these as attendees.

Airbnbs and hotels across the city will be packed for the main games and Paralympics, while those looking to visit Paris for non-sporting reasons will have to contend with great throngs of visitors. The cost of the metro will double in that time and parts of the city will be closed off, making trips there a little more expensive and trickier than usual.

London came in at 10 on the list (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The number crunchers at Euromonitor International, who put together the list, believe that Paris has what it takes to handle the influx of visitors and remain one of the most attractive and sustainable tourism cities in the world.

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The French capital beat London in this year's rankings, with the English metropolis coming in at 10th place. Edinburgh was the only other UK settlement to make the grade in 2023, coming in at a respectable 62.

According to the report, London stands out from the crowd with the best tourism infrastructure worldwide in 2023. It was also the city which saw the second most international arrivals in the world in 2023, with 18.8million representing an increase of 17% on the year before. Only Istanbul had more.

The strong recovery of international travel globally continues despite difficult financial times for many, with 38% growth in trips, projected to reach 1.3 billion in 2023.

A big feature of the year in terms of tourism has been the return of Chinese international travellers, following the removal of the government’s quarantine requirements. Global inbound tourism spending is set to record an outstanding $1.7 trillion US in 2023.

The use of technology continues to bring efficiency to the travel industry and will help to face challenges imposed by labour shortages while improving customer service experiences. The introduction of new technologies such as biometric identification, generative AI, payment systems or virtual or augmented reality tools will be widely used by most travel providers and cities.

World's best 100 cities

1. Paris
2. Dubai
3. Madrid
4. Tokyo
5. Amsterdam
6. Berlin
7. Rome
8. New York
9. Barcelona
10. London
11. Singapore
12. Munich
13. Milan
14. Seoul
15. Dublin
16. Osaka
17. Hong Kong
18. Vienna
19. Los Angeles
20. Lisbon
21. Prague
22. Sydney
23. Istanbul
24. Melbourne
25. Orlando, FL
26. Frankfurt am Main
27. Kyoto
28. Taipei
29. Florence
30. Toronto
31. Athens
32. Zurich
33. Bangkok
34. Las Vegas, NV
35. Miami
36. Kuala Lumpur
37. Venice
38. Abu Dhabi
39. Stockholm
40. Brussels
41. Tel Aviv
42. San Francisco
43. Shanghai
44. Warsaw
45. Guangzhou
46. Copenhagen
47. Nice
48. Washington
49. Budapest
50. Shenzhen
51. Vancouver
52. Palma de Mallorca
53. Seville
54. São Paulo
55. Valencia
56. Mexico City
57. Antalya
58. Sapporo
59. Beijing
60. Busan
61. Fukuoka
62. Edinburgh
63. Porto
64. Jerusalem
65. Kraków
66. Rio de Janeiro
67. Honolulu, HI
68. Montreal
69. Macau
70. Cancún
71. Marne-La-Vallée
72. Doha
73. Sharjah
74. Rhodes
75. Verona
76. Bologna
77. Thessaloniki
78. Buenos Aires
79. Lima
80. Phuket
81. Delhi
82. Heraklion
83. Tallinn
84. Pattaya-Chonburi
85. Ho Chi Minh City
86. Playa Del Carmen
87. Johor Bahru
88. Santiago
89. Tbilisi
90. Riyadh
91. Marrakech
92. Vilnius
93. Mugla
94. Zhuhai
95. Mecca
96. Punta Cana
97. Guilin
98. Hanoi
99. Cairo
100. Muscat

You can find out more on euromonitor.com.

Milo Boyd